Difference between revisions of "The Electromagnetic Spectrum"

From NY Science Standards Wiki
(Chemistry reference tables (2025 Edition): new reference table page)
 
(Make the Regents Exam Questions table scroll sideways on narrow screens instead of widening the page)
 
(One intermediate revision by the same user not shown)
Line 28: Line 28:
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
Wavelengths are in meters, while questions tend to give them in nanometers, so reading the chart usually also takes the nano- prefix from [[Selected Metric Prefixes]] (10<sup>−9</sup>). The chart gives no equation linking frequency to energy; that photons of higher frequency carry more energy is part of [[HS-PS4-4]] itself. The Earth and Space Sciences reference tables have their own [[Portion of Electromagnetic Spectrum Related to Earth and Space Sciences|version of this chart]], in nanometers.
+
Wavelengths are in meters, while questions tend to give them in nanometers, so reading the chart usually also takes the nano- prefix from [[Selected Metric Prefixes]] (10<sup>−9</sup>). The chart gives no equation linking frequency to energy; that photons of higher frequency carry more energy is part of [[HS-PS4-4]] itself. The Earth and Space Sciences reference tables have their own [[Portion of Electromagnetic Spectrum Related to Earth and Space Sciences|version of this chart]], in nanometers, and the physics reference tables have [[The Electromagnetic Spectrum (Physics)|theirs]], by frequency only, with blue and violet as separate bands and the radio and WiFi bands marked.
  
 
== Regents Exam Questions ==
 
== Regents Exam Questions ==
 
Released Regents questions that cannot be answered without this table, listed by exam. Each link opens the question with its answer key; the standard is the one the question assesses.
 
Released Regents questions that cannot be answered without this table, listed by exam. Each link opens the question with its answer key; the standard is the one the question assesses.
  
 +
<div style="overflow-x:auto;">
 
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
 
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Exam
 
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Exam
Line 58: Line 59:
 
| style="background-color:white;" | [[HS-PS4-4]]
 
| style="background-color:white;" | [[HS-PS4-4]]
 
|}
 
|}
 +
</div>

Latest revision as of 17:31, 25 October 2026

⇱ All Chemistry Reference Tables (2025 Edition)
← Periodic Table of the Elements Symbols Used in Nuclear Chemistry →

The Electromagnetic Spectrum chart from the Reference Tables for Physical Science: Chemistry (2025 Edition) shows the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum by wavelength and by frequency, with the visible-light region expanded to show its colors. It primarily supports HS-PS4-4.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum from the Chemistry Reference Tables (2025 Edition): wavelength in meters and frequency in hertz, with radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma bands and the visible colors from red to violet

What the electromagnetic spectrum chart shows

Two parallel scales run across the chart: wavelength in a vacuum, in meters, from 104 m down to 10−13 m, and frequency, in hertz, from 105 Hz up to 1021 Hz. Radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma radiation are marked as bands between the two scales (radio and gamma run off the ends of the chart), with visible light as a narrow band between infrared and ultraviolet. A note in the corner says that spectral boundaries are not discrete and that the biological effects of adjacent forms of radiation overlap.

Visible light is expanded above the wavelength scale and below the frequency scale:

Color Wavelength in a vacuum (m) Frequency (Hz)
Red 7.00 × 10−7 to 6.25 × 10−7 4.28 × 1014 to 4.80 × 1014
Orange 6.25 × 10−7 to 5.90 × 10−7 4.80 × 1014 to 5.08 × 1014
Yellow 5.90 × 10−7 to 5.65 × 10−7 5.08 × 1014 to 5.31 × 1014
Green 5.65 × 10−7 to 5.00 × 10−7 5.31 × 1014 to 6.00 × 1014
Blue/Violet 5.00 × 10−7 to 4.00 × 10−7 6.00 × 1014 to 7.50 × 1014

Wavelengths are in meters, while questions tend to give them in nanometers, so reading the chart usually also takes the nano- prefix from Selected Metric Prefixes (10−9). The chart gives no equation linking frequency to energy; that photons of higher frequency carry more energy is part of HS-PS4-4 itself. The Earth and Space Sciences reference tables have their own version of this chart, in nanometers, and the physics reference tables have theirs, by frequency only, with blue and violet as separate bands and the radio and WiFi bands marked.

Regents Exam Questions

Released Regents questions that cannot be answered without this table, listed by exam. Each link opens the question with its answer key; the standard is the one the question assesses.